Hi Brian,
I can shed a bit of light on Renee Bennett, her parents Wag and Diane Bennett had a motorcycle shop in Canning Town and a Gym in Forest Gate. Wag and Diane befriended Arnold Schwarzenegger when he lived in London in the sixties, before he left for the USA.
Renee was married to Howard Powell and I believe it was his motorcycle shop she was looking into (the large HOWARD painted on the wall gives a clue!). That shop is still trading as Howard Powell Motorcycles.
The area of the trial looks as though it might have been at Pirbright, but that is only a guess.
I bought my first Greeves, a 1958 20SAS from Monty Banks Snr. at his tiny shop in Whitechapel, before he moved to Vallence Road (the opposite end to the Kray family). Those were the days when you also bought a silencer and a set of trials tyres to ride the bike in the winter. Three of us rode our Greeves from London to Liverpool across to the Isle of Man to watch the 1959 Manx Grand Prix. We all entered a Scramble in Douglas and finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th. The winner was a local lad by the name of Kelly. I think I came second but it may have been third. The prize money of £2 10s just about paid for a new rear wheel rim to replace the one I dented in the race!
Brian Stonebridge was our idol and we were all shocked when we heard of his death. At the time of the memorial Scramble at Hawkstone Park, I was 'square-bashing' as a RAF National Serviceman in Bridgenorth, Shropshire. Our pay was about £1 a week so me and a couple of friends hitch-hiked to and from Hawkstone to spectate. It was great to see Dave Curtis on his Matchless and the works Gold Stars thundering around the circuit.
Happy Days
John
I can shed a bit of light on Renee Bennett, her parents Wag and Diane Bennett had a motorcycle shop in Canning Town and a Gym in Forest Gate. Wag and Diane befriended Arnold Schwarzenegger when he lived in London in the sixties, before he left for the USA.
Renee was married to Howard Powell and I believe it was his motorcycle shop she was looking into (the large HOWARD painted on the wall gives a clue!). That shop is still trading as Howard Powell Motorcycles.
The area of the trial looks as though it might have been at Pirbright, but that is only a guess.
I bought my first Greeves, a 1958 20SAS from Monty Banks Snr. at his tiny shop in Whitechapel, before he moved to Vallence Road (the opposite end to the Kray family). Those were the days when you also bought a silencer and a set of trials tyres to ride the bike in the winter. Three of us rode our Greeves from London to Liverpool across to the Isle of Man to watch the 1959 Manx Grand Prix. We all entered a Scramble in Douglas and finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th. The winner was a local lad by the name of Kelly. I think I came second but it may have been third. The prize money of £2 10s just about paid for a new rear wheel rim to replace the one I dented in the race!
Brian Stonebridge was our idol and we were all shocked when we heard of his death. At the time of the memorial Scramble at Hawkstone Park, I was 'square-bashing' as a RAF National Serviceman in Bridgenorth, Shropshire. Our pay was about £1 a week so me and a couple of friends hitch-hiked to and from Hawkstone to spectate. It was great to see Dave Curtis on his Matchless and the works Gold Stars thundering around the circuit.
Happy Days
John
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